Wednesday, October 28, 2015

PENANG: There is no massive retrenchment exercise in Penang despite various industries and businesses entering into mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activities, said the Director of Invest Penang, Datuk Lee Kah Choon.

He said on Tuesday M&As are commonly carried out, not only to consolidate operations, but also for reasons such as to increase market share and technology synergies.

He also confirmed that five major multinational companies (MNC) are entering into M&As, but there is no massive retrenchment exercise to follow.

A total of 518 foreign workers’ death were reported at the construction sector since 2006, the Dewan Rakyat was told today. Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Abd Muttalib said according to statistics recorded until Sept 30, nationality with the highest deaths were Bangladesh (216) and Indonesia (64). "This figure only covers foreign workers at construction sector. There are about 1.9 million legal foreign workers in various sectors in Malaysia,"

Monday, October 26, 2015

Union Busting at Honda: State & Company in Partnership

In April 2015, more than 3000 workers employed at the Honda Prospect Motor plant in Karawang, Indonesia held a mass meeting to declare the establishment of their union, SERBUK HPM. However, five of the union’s leaders have now been suspended by Honda in a classic case of union busting. The workers are fighting both the government and company for union recognition.

In 2012, the Malaysian Trades’ Union Congress (MTUC) urged the government to fix the minimum wage ceiling rate at RM1,200 a month for private sector employees.

Three years later, the Budget 2016 has only revealed a meagre increase, not taking into account the fact that the cost of living has increased.

The Budget 2016 that was tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Friday had a minimum wage increase for private sector workers in the peninsula from RM900 to RM1,000, and from RM800 to RM920 for those in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has raised concern over Putrajaya's plan to set up an Employment Insurance Scheme (EIS), saying it does not offer sufficient returns or protection for majority of the workforce. MTUC council member S. Somahsundram said under the scheme, workers could be in a worse situation. Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Abd Muttalib said last month that the government would announce its decision on the proposed EIS soon.

The scheme was announced last year during Budget 2015, to give temporary financial assistance, reskilling and upskilling for retrenched workers.

Friday, October 23, 2015

The Malaysian Trades' Union Congress (MTUC) has expressed disappointment with the government over the new minimum wage increase for private sector employees as proposed under Budget 2016.

Its secretary-general, N. Gopal Kishnam, said he expected a RM1,200 minimum wage, similar to the rate for public sector workers.

“We are extremely disappointed with the announcement due to the increase in living cost nationwide,” he told The Malaysian Insider in an immediate reaction after the tabling of the budget in Parliament today.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the minimum wage increase for private sector workers in the peninsula from RM900 to RM1,000, and from RM800 to RM920 for those in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a “very bad” agreement, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who expressed worries that the deal would affect the competitiveness of Malaysian companies. The former prime minister said the trade deal would result in local companies having to compete with international outfits with decades of experience and operations. “Under TPP, you cannot discriminate, so if there is a tender process, it has to be opened to everyone.

“Malaysian companies are not as strong as foreign companies and if a foreign company suffer losses here, it can still make profit from other places whereas this is not the case for Malaysian companies.

source:::https://www.youtube.com “So we can’t compete and our policies to uplift our industries will be affected. “TPP is a very bad agreement,” he said in a brief question and answer session at the “Impact of economic issues on Malaysian workers” forum by the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE)

The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) is anxious over the impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) on healthcare services in Malaysia.

MMA president Datuk Dr N.K.S. Tharmaseelan (picture) said an agreement could see the potential increase in the cost of medicines and healthcare services.

“Many countries now use generic drugs to treat diseases as effectively as patent drugs. This has brought down the cost of medication and health care,” said Dr Tharmaseelan.

“But with the TPPA, intellectual property provisions could be an issue as the production and importation of generic drugs will be deemed illegal until a certain period.”

He added the liberalisation of the healthcare service sector would also send “costs of healthcare spiralling upwards”.

“Managed care organisations (MCO) and health maintenance organisations (HMO) are third parties who act as intermediaries between doctors, patients and hospitals. The rising number of complaints cannot be acted upon due to the lack of appropriate Acts to regulate these third party administrators in Malaysia.

Friday, October 2, 2015

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) is concerned about the ongoing economic and political issues the country has been facing in recent times. With the ringgit depreciating against major currencies, the cost of imports have gone up and as a direct consequence of this there has been a further rise in the cost of living.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

“The economic figures used such as inflation and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) does not reflect the real rise in the cost of living,” says MTUC

The MTUC would like to invite the Minister of Human Resources and his officers to discuss workers’ issues in the country in view of the deteriorating economic conditions in the country. “There’s also a need to handle the political and economic issues that are fast dragging the country down.”